In the year 2015 the major cities of the world have fallen, natural disasters are happening left, right and centre and the gods have returned to rule Earth once again. All the gods – Ancient Greek, Egyptian, Hindu, Mayan and Norse. They are not the merciful, bountiful gods of our current religious systems. These are the blood thirsty, irrationally angry, kind of rapey gods of old.

Things escalate very quickly in this comic. Going from bad to worse in only a few pages. But amidst all the chaos Hickman gives the reader a tiny sliver of hope. Dr Sebastian Reed and a team of sewer dwelling geniuses who are working together to take back Earth for humankind. This series starts off with a bang and I am very curious to see where it is going. I haven’t read Hickman’s other series – East of West – but after reading this I’ll be adding that to my list as well.

I am not at all familiar with the majority of Superman villains but in the spirit of adventure I decided to give Cyborg Superman a try. What I found was this comic was actually two stories in one – the story of Zor-el and the story of Cyborg Superman and one of those stories was infinitely more interesting than the other.

The story of Zor-el was a tragic one. Constantly living in the shadow of his much more successful brother, desperate to save his family he throws his lot in with a crazy man – Brainiac. Of course this ends horribly. By the end I really pitied him. Cyborg Superman’s story on the other hand was kind of dull. He just went around deciding people were unworthy and destroying them. If anything it made me more interested in Brainiac’s story than Cyborg Superman.

Andy Clarke knows how to draw crazy well. I love his Joker especially when he does close-ups and the flashbacks felt haunting in it’s messy lines and gloomy color palette. In regards to the story, the only issue I had was the sympathetic back story given to Joker who’s psychotic nature and the previous back stories that only went as far as “he fell in a vat of chemicals and came out crazy” were appealing to audiences BECAUSE he had no real relatable reasons for being mad. This back story made me feel sorry for Joker which made me feel sad because it turned the most scariest villains (one who did what he did for no reason) into a typical villain who’s acting out a shitty childhood.

The Ventriloquist and her creepy doll Ferdie are two sick puppies. If you’re a regular reader of Batgirl you may already know this, but if you’re new to the character they may surprise you. Seriously, in many ways she reminds me of the Joker, only with a desire to succeed in showbiz. This issue gives you a brief glimpse into Shauna’s (the Ventriloquist) early life and tensions with her twin brother. There’s an explanation for why she is the way she is but it doesn’t feel like a complete one. I was left with a lot of questions about how exactly she came upon her ability and the logistics of Ferdie. The art was detailed and nightmare inducing. It’s an excellent horror short story but not really a stand out in the hall of DC villain fame.

I really enjoyed this comic. I liked that throughout it Two Face maintains his rule of letting the coin decide and having others respect the coin’s word which is final. It’s what has Two Face agree to join the Secret Society and ultimately what causes him to part ways with them. I liked the artwork in general but LOVED the first few pages where Two Face is on top of the Bat-signal and March plays with the lighting. Overall, great job.

My favourite comic this week goes to Poison Ivy as she takes over Detective Comics. Derek Fridolfs and Javier Pina need to team up for an ongoing Ivy title because this one ROCKED. I want to start with art because I’m just salivating over this one. I’ve been talking about it on twitter and so has a lot of people in regards to the flashback sequences specifically which look gorgeous. The texture of the page is different and it’s lighter in palette with pinks, yellows and light greens. It’s safe to say that Pina used water colors and little Pamela is adorable.

Fridolfs created a complex and sympathetic character by giving her a story that involves loving mother with a green thumb and a dark cloud of domestic violence hanging over them. I really enjoyed this story and I want more of this team up on either an ongoing series or at least a limited one.

If there is one lesson to take away from the world of comic it is this – when Jeff Lemire both writes AND illustrates a book it is a must buy. The first issue of Trillium introduced us to our two protagonists separately and issue two brings them together. The two could not be more different – she a scientists from the year 3797. He veteran in 1921. But as they slowly begin to realize there is something familiar between them. I love the pacing of this book. You’re given little titbits of information but left desperate for the next issue to find out what’s really going on. And the art is just gorgeous. It’s a fantastic colour palette and worth rereading a few times just to take it all in.